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Space News Update - January 9, 2012In the News Story 1: How Many Moons Does Earth Have? Story 2: Search for Intelligent Extraterrestrials Targets Known Alien Planets Story 3: Vast Web of Dark Matter Mapped Departments The Night Sky ISS Sighting Opportunities NASA-TV Highlights Space Calendar Food for Thought Space Image of the Week How Many Moons Does Earth Have? Search for Intelligent Extraterrestrials Targets Known Alien Planets Vast Web of Dark Matter Mapped The Night Sky Monday, January 9 · Sirius, the Dog Star, sparkles low in the eastsoutheast after dusk, far below Orion. Procyon, the Little Dog Star, shines in the east two or three fistwidths at arm's length to Sirius's left (not far right of the Moon tonight). If you live around latitude 30° north (Tijuana, New Orleans, Jacksonville), the two canine stars are at the same height above your horizon soon after they rise. If you're north of that latitude, Procyon will be higher. If you're south of there, Sirius will be the higher one. Tuesday, January 10 · In early evening at this time of year, the Great Square of Pegasus balances on one corner high in the west. The vast Andromeda-Pegasus constellation complex runs all the way from near the zenith (Andromeda's foot) down through the Great Square (Pegasus's body) almost to the western horizon (Pegasus's nose). Wednesday, January 11 · Here we are well into January, and Vega, the "Summer Star," still shines brightly in the northwest right after dusk. Though it's getting pretty low. To Vega's upper left, the Northern Cross in Cygnus is swinging down to stand upright on the northwest horizon around 7 or 8 p.m. (as seen from midnorthern latitudes). Thursday, January 12 · In this coldest time of the year, the dim Little Dipper hangs straight down from Polaris after dinnertime as if (per Leslie Peltier) from a nail on the cold north wall of the sky. · Faint Neptune (magnitude 7.9) is 1.3° north (upper right) of Venus - which is 60,000 times brighter at magnitude -4.0. · Friday, January 13 · Mars shines above the waning Moon before and during dawn Saturday morning, as shown here. ISS Sighting Opportunities For Denver: SATELLITE ISS LOCAL DURATION DATE/TIME (MIN) Thu Jan 12/06:37 AM 1 14 MAX ELEV (DEG) APPROACH DEPARTURE (DEG-DIR) 10 above S (DEG-DIR) 14 above SSE Sighting information for other cities can be found at NASA’s Satellite Sighting Information NASA-TV Highlights January 10, Tuesday 9:55 a.m. a.m. – ISS Expedition 30 In-Flight Event for ESA with the Netherlands Minister – JSC (Public, HD and Media Channels) January 11, Wednesday 1:30 p.m. - Video B-Roll of the ISS Expedition 31 Crew Training 2 p.m. - ISS Expedition 31 Crew News Conference 4:30 p.m. - Live Interviews with ISS Expedition 31 Flight Engineer Joe Acaba – January 12, Thursday 9:50 a.m. - ISS Expedition 30 U.S. In-Flight Event with the Weather Channel - Watch NASA TV on the Net by going to NASA website. Space Calendar · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · · Jan 09 - Zi Yuan 3A/ VesselSat 2 CZ-4B Launch (China) Jan 09 - Asteroid 2011 AC3 Near-Earth Flyby (0.081 AU) Jan 09 - Asteroid 18458 Caesar Closest Approach To Earth (1.394 AU) Jan 09 - Asteroid 742 Edisona Closest Approach To Earth (2.206 AU) Jan 10 - Comet P/2011 W2 (Rinner) Closest Approach To Earth (1.408 AU) Jan 10 - Asteroid 5020 Asimov Closest Approach To Earth (1.505 AU) Jan 11 - Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), Trajectory Correction Maneuver #1 (TCM-1) Jan 11 - Comet P/2004 T1 (LINEAR-NEAT) Closest Approach To Earth (1.863 AU) Jan 11 - Comet P/2008 O2 (McNaught) Closest Approach To Earth (3.758 AU) Jan 11 - Asteroid 2002 BF25 Near-Earth Flyby (0.068 AU) Jan 11 - Asteroid 3895 Earhart Closest Approach To Earth (1.213 AU) Jan 11 - Asteroid 11998 Fermilab Closest Approach To Earth (2.456 AU) Jan 11 - Asteroid 4446 Carolyn Closest Approach To Earth (4.065 AU) Jan 11 - 225th Anniversary (1787), William Herschell's Discovery of Uranus Moons Titania and Oberon Jan 12 - Comet 78P/Gehrels Perihelion (2.009 AU) Jan 12 - Asteroid 99942 Apophis Closest Approach To Earth (0.613 AU) Jan 12 - Asteroid 37582 Faraday Closest Approach To Earth (1.446 AU) Jan 13 - Mercury Passes 4.5 Degrees From Pluto Jan 13 - Asteroid 433 Eros Occults TYC 0845-00718-1 (10.1 Magnitude Star) Jan 13 - Asteroid 2012 AZ Near-Earth Flyby (0.040 AU) Jan 13 - Asteroid 21619 Johnhopkins Closest Approach To Earth (1.136 AU) Jan 13 - Asteroid 3173 McNaught Closest Approach To Earth (1.685 AU) Jan 13 - Asteroid 6136 Gryphon Closest Approach To Earth (1.873 AU) Jan 13 - Asteroid 588 Achilles Closest Approach To Earth (3.497 AU) JPL Space Calendar Food for Thought How Stephen Hawking Has Beaten the Odds with ALS Space Image of the Week Tranquillityite – Moon Mineral Found In Western Australia